Floor supporting structure



Oct. 4, 1938. FOCHT FLOOR SUPPORTING STRUCTURE' Original Filed May lO,1933 lNvr-:NToR y ou/5 Foc/47'.

ENQ/i0 ATTORNEY l UNIT-Eo STATES-PATENT OFFICE( d mofm original No.2,120,802, dates :une 14, 1938 sei-iai.

,-- v--NIL 670,292, May l0, 1933.

Application for reissue August l0, 1938, Serial No. 224,225

. 'l Claims.

This invention relates vto flooring Vstructures generally,v butf'is morespecifically designed to produce a light but strong assembly of standardcommercial' channel, angle and/or T-irons, on which any desiredcharacter of pavement canbe laid to form a bridge floor or deck.

To this end the invention consist" essentially in an assembly of aplurality of relatively wide,` and relatively shallow, channel membersplaced side by side to form the main portion of the deck structure, withangle irons or T-irons or at portions of other members of standard crosssections fastened between the adjacent `flanges of such channel members,such deckas'sembly resting upon the usual skeleton supportingconstruction comprising stringers, and/or sills, etc., and forming animperforate foundation on which any desired paving may be placed. n Thechannel irons are arranged withtheir channels underneath so that theirwebslie in the same upper plane, thus forming a cellular deck structurewith a substantially smooth upper survof the usual waterproofcoatingwith or without face on which paving blocks may belaid directly afterthe application to said surface, if desired,

an added layer of .cushioning material. y

The best form of apparatusat present known to me embodying my invention,with-.sundry modaA iilcations thereof, are illustrated inthe accom"panylng sheet of drawings, in which 'l Fig. 1 ls a perspective view withparts broken 'I ."away and others shown in section showing a portion ofa bridge floor constructed in accordance with my invention. v

r Fig. 2 is a similar sectional view showing a modicatio'n in whichangle irons are used, and Fig. 3 is 'a similar diagram of anothermodifi.-

lcation in which nothing but channel/membersare used in forming thesteel structure.,

Throughout the drawing like'reference characters indicate like parts. l

I,I, indicate the bridge strlngers or other portions of thebridge :doorsupportingY structure on which the deck structure olf my invention isdirectly supported. 2,2, are channel members or n channel irons orsimilar channel members of any standard rolled type and cross sectionarranged with their-flanges adjacent one to another, and all theirchannels on the under surfaces;A lso that the exterior 'surfaces oftheir webs are all in substantially one and the same plane formingthemajor portion of the upper surface of the structure soA assembled. 3,3,are T-irons the webs of which are inserted between `the adjacent flangesof the channel members 2, 2, and are (criss-s4) f 7 andoriginallyplastic cushioning material B rnay.---

. ow so as to key the said mass of these materials' to the oor formed bythe channel members, though thisv is not always necessary with roadsurfacings of some types, ,nor when the upper surfaces-of the channelwebs are left exposed and themselves form the floorl surface in awarehouse or other building; 23 is .an'angle iron having an elongatedweb which is substituted for a T-iron atthe edge of the oor and extendsfar enpnghup to form a Yretaining ange for the Ypavement blocks l, 1,which may -be of any de sired character.

The foregoing described construction is evidently light in weight, beingof the cellular type,

but furnishes a secure, even surfaced and rigid v base on which any`desired form of paving may.

be laid..

Inlg. 2, T-irons 3, 3;arereplaced by pairs ofv angle irons I3, I3,lplaced-back to back. This construction is a little heavier thant'hatshown in Fig. 1, but has a corresponding increase of strength. 23is the same edge forming element as is shown in Figure 1, and issimilarlyfastenedto the outermost channel member ange.

If still greater strength in the vertically arranged elements of theconstruction is desired other channel members v22, 22, may .besubstituted for the T-irons, or angle irons, as shown in Eig.

3, the upper flange of each of the vertically arranged channel membersresting on the upper surfaces of the webs of the adjacent,` horizontallydisposed, channel members, and .serving as keying members acting toprevent the cushioning layer, or other plastic covering; from slippinglaterally.

Among' the advantages of the invention may be mentioned the following: Asaving of about 50% in weight over most standard types of flooring ofthe same strength, this permitting a saving of about 17%-in the\tota lcost of a bridge designed to carry a given live load by reason of -thesaving of the weight of material in the mainy bridge supportingstructure rendered possible by the consequent saving in dead load; or,vconversely, a gain of in strength of flooring of the weight now employedin standard bridge designs; ease and elasticity of fabrication result-.Y ing from the useof only the various commercial,

standard elements of steel construction which may be bought in openmarket of any desired weight and strength and in ,any quantity fromstock, and which can be readily riveted or welded together in the shopor on th job.

The cross sections-of the commercial channel members shown in thedrawing also have an advantageous feature in that the flanges of saidchannels all have cross sections flaring upwardly when the floor is inposition for use. Any two vof these flanges having the intervening webof' an inverted T-iron securely fastenedthereto, as by riveting orWelding, together with the immediately adjacent portions of channelwebs, form a built-up I-beam. This is'the strongest form of rolled steelshapes for service as a beam carrying a concentrated load betweenspaced-apart supports, and vthat is the work a bridge floor must do whena heavily loaded truck wheel rolls on it.

Furthermore, each such` flange of upwardly and outwardly flaring cross`section forms, with the adjacent portion of the channel web, acantilever supported from the T-iron web to which it is riveted, andthereby gives additional stiffness under loads to the medial portion ofsuch channel web forming with it a part of the upper portion of the oorstructure. f

Thus while channel members having other cross sections varying indetails ofoutline from those here shown can be used in various differentembodiments of my invention, I believe that floors builtas shown in Fig.1 develop per unit of weight the greater resistance to flexure underIconcentrated loads.

As both channel members and T-irons can bev ,rolled to exact length, upto the width ofthe roadways of the largest bridges, there is no cuttingof the material required after delivery to the user, and no wastagethereof occurs. Also, the great strength and stiffness of the floorstructure allows the strlngers, or other members of the mainbridge-structure supporting it, to be placed farther apart than hasheretofore been necessary with floors of the prior art. Consequently,allesser number of such'stringers are needed to a given width ofroadway.

All types shown afford ready access to all the exposed metal surfacesfor painting and repainting and the possibility of running trucks overthe steel floor formed by the metal members alone when delivering andapplying the cushioning layer and paving blocks. and that oi' being ableVto put the completed ooring into regular use without any addition ofthe superposed paving blocksv or other surfacing materials, constitutepractical points of advantage. The types shown in all said figures ofthe drawing also permit the easy removal and replacement of small areasof I the block paving, when'necevssary. without sacriicing the originalsmoothness of the paving surface which is automatically retainedfbyrthep ermanently level surface of the underlying metal structure.Furthermore, in case of the wrecking of the bridge the deck can beremoved in sections and used elsewhere. i 1

All the types shown also serve for efficient lateral bracing of the deckand thereby supplement the action of the lower, lateral bracing, or

vrender possible the saving of material in such lower bracing structurewhile preserving the total horizontal bracing effect now given by otherexist- `lng, constructions of substantially the same '75 weight.

In addition to highway bridges, this type of floor can also beadvantageously used in warehouses, docks, railroad bridges, and otherstructures subjected to heavy loads. In the case of railroad bridges thepaving blocks and` some or all of the surfacing layers shown in thedrawing may be dispensed with and the track rails fastened -to thechannel members, if desired, or otherwise supported therefrom.

Various changes in details of construction and assembly, other thanthose specifically illustrated and described herein, can be made withoutdeparting from the Iunderlying principle of the invention as aboveexplained and hereinafter defined in the appended claims, and withoutmaterially sacrificing the main advantages above enumerated, and othersobvious to those skilled in the art.

In all such modifications the prime advantage of having the upper,exterior surfaces of the webs of the channel members lying insubstantially one and the same plane should be retained to form a ing aplurality of standard rolled channel members arranged with the exteriorsurfaces of their flanges closely kadjacent one to another and theexterior surfaces of their webs all in substantially one and the sameplane forming the upper sur- `face of the structure so assembled, saidchannel members being combined with a plurality of straight metalmembers each one of which is conned between two adjacent flanges of saidchannel members but projects beyond the free edges of said flanges,together with means for rigidly fasteningtogether said flanges vandintervening strips in. relative positions such that theupper edge ofeach strip shall be slightly below the plane of the upper surfaces ofthe webs of said channel members, thereby forming a plurality of slotsin the upper surface of the structure into which any f plasticcomposition applied to such upper surface `may penetrate to form keyingmeans thereto.

2. A structuresuch as defined in claim 1, comblned with a continuouslayer of originally plastic material applied to said surfaces andextending into the grooves so left between adjacent members.

3. A combination such as defined in claim 1 in which said interveningmembers comprise the webs of a plurality of T-irons, the flanges ofvwhich extend across the free edges of said channel member flanges. v

4. In `a oor structure for bridges and like purposes,A a plurality `ofstandard rolled channel members arranged with the exterior surfaces of`their flanges closely adjacent oneY to another, and

the vexterior surfaces of their webs all in substantially one and thesame .plane forming the upper surface of the structure so assembled,combined with a plurality. of T-irons each one of which has its upwardlyprojecting web conned between-two adjacent flanges of said channelmembers and its flanges extendingvbelow the free edges thereof, togetherwith means for fastening together said flanges and T-iron webs; wherebysaid T-iron flanges serve both as supports for the oor structure soformed and as tension members to assist in resisting any disruptivestrains to which the lower edges of said channel member flanges may besubjected as the result oi deflection thereof caused by loads appliedbetween spaced apart supports for said oor structure.

5. A structure such as dened in claim 4 com,-

bined with spaced apart supports extending under said T-irons andsubstantially at right angles thereto.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a floor structure for bridges andlike purposes comprising a plurality .of standard rolled channel membersarranged with the exterior surfaces of their ilanges closely adjacentone to another and the exterior surfaces of their webs all insubstantially one and the same plane, said members being com-- binedwith a plurality ci supporting' members each having a flat sectionconned between two adjacent flanges of said mst-mentioned channelmembers and fastened thereto` in positions such that their -upperportions cooperate with the position for use, whereby they thencooperate with the T-irons, on either side oi the webs of which T-ironsthey are fastened, to form built-up I-beams incorporated in suchfinished ioor.

LOUIS FOCHT.

, `10 which the anges oiv said channels have cross sections flaringupwardly when the floor is in

